product launch is a process of introducing new or updated products by a company in the market. A well-planned product launch helps to create a buzz in the market and get the immediate attention of the customers. It also involves bringing different departments and teams of a business together to support the launch of a product

Launch strategy for a new product requires effort and time. However, product-centric companies do this effort to attract their prospective customers. A robust can help to amplify product adoption. It enables companies to get a quick return on investment in product development. 

Main takeaways 

product launch is a method of launching new or updated products in the market by company. 

    • A product launch is a method of launching new or updated products in the market by company.
    • Best tips for a successful product launch:

– Utilize your product data to build the best strategy

– Focus on the customer experience.

– Create a product launch checklist

– Launch early and modify with time

  • You can use KPIs or qualitative data to measure the success of your product launch plan.

What is a product launch?

product launch isn’t as simple as opening a new shop on the roadside. It requires effort to make the product known in the market and generate substantial revenue. You have to market your product across different channels where most of your target market is active.

 A product launch requires the collaborative efforts of distinct teams and departments of a company. According to a report, 63% of customers like it when companies bring new products to market. People often get excited and want to try new product or offering. Therefore, product launches are an excellent opportunity to acquire maximum customers when their interest is at its peak. 

Product launch stages

what is a product launch

 

launch of product can be divided into three stages, that we have discussed below:

1. Planning 

This is the stage at which the product team has to define goals, research the target market & competitors and plan out a marketing strategy. The product team engages with the product development team to know the best features & capabilities to promote in the market. They also determine the date for the product launch.

2. Execution 

Execution is the stage at which the product is launched officially in the market. It includes the launch of the product and the subsequent marketing efforts to keep the buzz in the market in the initial weeks. Also, in this stage, marketing data and statistics are collected to determine the success of the product. 

3. Analysis 

The marketing efforts are lowered as the product moves from the launch to the “growth” stage of the product lifecycle. Here, the product team uses the collected data to determine the success of the product launch. They evaluate whether the KPIs or set goals were met as expected before the launch. 

Tips for creating a successful product launch strategy 

Every product is different and has distinct challenges. Similarly, a product launch also varies depending on various factors related to the product. A powerful launch of product can make a lot of difference in how people see your product. Here, we will give you some best tips using which you can make your product launch successful. 

1. Focus on the customer experience

 

To develop a product that receives good customer response, you need to research the market well. Product discovery is a method in which the company asks many critical questions, like why this product should exist and what problems it can solve for customers. 

Your product team should have answers to these questions before planning out the product launch strategy:

  • Why should customers use the product that you are developing?
  • What problems of your customers will your product resolve?
  • Why is your product better than any other product available in the market?

To get to the depth of these answers, you need to conduct thorough market research. First, you should start collecting feedback from customers. Through surveys, you can ask customers what features they look for and what issues they faced with similar products previously. 

This will help you to know about your competitors and what features they’re lacking. It will also aid you in identifying additional features you can incorporate and how you can make your product better. This way, you can position your product better than the products that already exist in the market. 

Products that are similar to existing products don’t excite the customers. You need to bring something new or better to the table. Focus on providing value to the customer as this enhances their product experience. A good customer experience means a high customer satisfaction level and, thus loyalty in the long run. 

2. Utilize your product data to build a robust strategy 

Conduct beta testing to gather valuable product data that enables you to see how customers engage with your product. A user behavior analytics solution like WebMaxy Analyzer can help you to gather customer data insights that you can use to create a product strategy. 

For example, your product has a feature called surveys. Through beta testing, you find out that most of the people use that function to conduct surveys. So, while targeting your prospective customers, you can promote the survey feature to attract target customers’ attention. 

3. Create a product launch checklist

product launch strategies

 

Having a checklist is important for any product launch. As you know, a product launch involves several teams, like marketing & sales teams, product teams, and more, functioning together to achieve business goals. Sometimes, it might get confusing for the product launch manager to keep track of tasks that need to be done. Therefore, creating a product launch checklist is the best way to avoid last-minute confusion.

A product launch checklist will ensure that tasks are well-managed and there are no shortcomings in the product launch event. You can put tasks in chronological order and check them off once they’re done. Group the tasks with the team responsible to execute them. 

product launch checklist varies from business to business. Here, we have given a list of items that are common in every product launch list:

  • Deciding the product launch date
  • Setting relevant KPIs
  • Identifying your target market
  • Choosing the right marketing channels
  • Creating an effective marketing message
  • Coordinating with the product development, marketing & sales teams

4. Launch early and modify with time

You can launch your product once it’s developed with the required features and gone through beta testing. Once people start using your product, you can gather and analyze customer behavioral data. This way, you can know the scope of improvement and make changes as per your customers’ needs, wants, and expectations. 

Whenever you are making alterations to your product, the customers can’t use it. Therefore, while you are making changes to your product, your customers might become uninterested. So, you should try to release a core version of your product that attracts potential customers. This way, they can become your product advocates while you are making changes to your final product.

Developing an effective product strategy: Key steps and best practices

“Strategize, Innovate, and Win: Building a Product Strategy that Drives Business Growth.”

 

What to expect from a product launch?

product launch marketing plan

 

When a company is launching a product for the first time, it’s often tough for them. The reason being the fact that they simply lack experience. Therefore, you need to start creating a product launch plan while your product is in the development stage itself.

You need to see which features you want to include in your marketing messaging. Sometimes the challenges and issues in the development phase might lead to change in the release date. The best product launch plan is one that is flexible. 

The development and testing phases are constant processes. The changes and delays are normal, and having a rigid approach won’t be helpful in the long run. According to a report, Only 55% of product launches happen as scheduled. Therefore, it’s vital that you give more time to execute the launch tasks.

If you think the launch process is a one-day task, then you are wrong. Even after the official release of your new product, your marketing efforts need to be constant. Social media posts and email campaigns often take time to spread the word. The main aim of marketing efforts is to create awareness and buzz in the market. However, even post-launch of the product, you should aim to grasp the attention of the expanded audience.

How to measure product launch success? 

As the product that you launch in the market is not going to be your last one. Thus, it’s important that you evaluate and measure the success of your product launch marketing plan. Below we have given a few methods through which you can do it. 

1. Set relevant KPIs 

Before your product launch, you should define what a successful product launch for your business would look like. The success attained post-launch of a product also depends on the market. For example, an app may view its launch success depending on the sign-ups they get. An ecommerce website has revenue goals. They might measure product launch success on the basis of customers they get post-launch. 

You can choose relevant KPIs to track depending on your end goals. Also, keep in mind that they should be measurable. Below we have mentioned some of the most common KPIs that are associated with product launches:

  • Website Traffic
  • Leads gained
  • Revenue generated
  • Customer retention
  • Number of subscriptions

Calculating KPIs can help you to evaluate the success of your launch of product and marketing campaigns. However, make sure that you should go beyond profit and loss. By gathering the post-launch data, you can understand distinct aspects about your customers and market. You can know how to create a more effective product and the best marketing ways to launch it in the market. You can utilize this information next time when you are launching another product in the same product line. 

2. Track and analyze data 

When you launch a product in the market, you gather large volumes of data. You can collect website data about your product from your website and marketing data from various tools. You can analyze this data to determine if your product launch was able to meet the expected goals or KPIs. You can also gather customer behavioral data through user behavior analytics tools like WebMaxy Analyzer. This way, you can know how much of your expectations were fulfilled by your actual product launch. 

3. Gather customer feedback 

Most of the product metrics are based on quantitative data like the number of sign-ups, products sold, etc. However, you can collect qualitative data from your customers in the form of feedback. This way, you can know how customers perceive your product and what improvements you can make. You can gather customer feedback in the following ways:

  • One-to-one customer interviews
  • Focus groups
  • Surveys and polls

Nonetheless, it’s crucial that you analyze how well the product launch went within your company as well. Different teams might have encountered distinct problems during the product launch that your product team might not be aware of. Also, your customer service teams would have interacted with many customers for any problems and issues. You can resolve those problems and know what features of your product to promote. From all this information, you can know your product launch loopholes and improve them next time around. 

Tool for a successful new product launch 

WebMaxy Analyzer is a user behavior analytics software that can help you gather accurate customer insights. It can help you understand your customers’ behavior and patterns. You can know how customers perceive your product. This software comes with various features like:

  • Session recordings: This helps you know how your website visitors interact and engage with different website elements. You can see how long they were on your site and what they were doing.
  • Heatmaps: You can know where users have clicked or tapped on your website. It can help you see till where users have scrolled down on your site. You can know if people are viewing the important information and clicking on the CTAs or not.
  • Surveys and feedback: You can conduct surveys within a few mins with ready-to-launch survey templates. This way you can get direct and accurate customer feedback.
  • Funnel view: You can create funnels to analyze your customer journey. You can know at which stage of the buying journey most customers are dropping.
  • Form analytics: You can create forms and see which attributes are people filling out and which they are leaving. This way you can create forms which receive the maximum response.
  • Advanced integrations: WebMaxy Analyzer integrates with many other tools like Google Tag Manager, WordPress, Hubspot, Shopify, Magento, Wix, Instapage and many more.

There are many other features in this tool such as feedback, push notifications, segmentation, user insights, and so on.

Take away

The blog helped you know  about how to do a successful launch of product, tips and strategies for great product launches. WebMaxy analyzer is one of the most recommended tool to launch and track great product in the market. 

Schedule a call with our experts to learn more about WebMaxy Analyzer, or email us at sales@webmaxy.com

The ultimate guide to product launch

Maximize your product’s impact: Essential tips and strategies for launching with success!

FAQs 

  1. What is product launch strategy? 

Product launch strategy is the process of planning the marketing efforts and promotion to launch a new product in the market. 

 

     2.  What is marketing plan for product launch? 

A product launch marketing plan is a three-stage promotion strategy in which different organic and paid marketing campaigns are created with the aim of creating product awareness and to ensure a successful product launch. 



    3.  What are the three types of product launch?

Below we have given the three types of product launch: 

  • Breaking In
  • Breaking ground 
  • Brand expansion


   4.  How to market new product launch? 

You can market a new product launch in the following ways: 

  • Give an introductory offer 
  • Contests and giveaways 
  • Create a referral program 
  • Social media posts
  • Paid marketing campaigns